A public meeting to go over the plans for the renovation of Lake Shenandoah Dam in Rockingham County is on the schedule for Tuesday, Sept. 29.
The meeting will be held at the Rockingham Recreation Center in Penn Laird, with a 7 p.m. start time.
The background here dates back to 2020, when inspectors detected a large seepage area at the toe of the dam. Follow-up inspections revealed degraded structural materials in the old dam’s core, necessitating the need to lower the lake by five feet and make plans to replace the dam.
Thereafter, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources worked with engineers to develop a plan to maximize the pool levels while also meeting the requirements set forth by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation dam safety regulations.
The resulting plans include complete demolition of the old dam and constructing the new dam 150 feet upstream of the old dam.
The new spillway will allow the lake’s pool levels to be approximately one foot from pre-lowering pool height.
Currently the project is in the planning and permitting phase, with construction activities expected to begin late spring of 2027.
The Lake Shenandoah Dam was originally constructed in 1956. The lake itself is a 36-acre impoundment providing outdoor experiences within an urban setting. It has bank fishing access, a boat ramp, fishing pier, restrooms, and wildlife viewing trail.
To learn more about Lake Shenandoah and the dam, visit the DWR webpage.
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Chris Graham
